This is according to the MEC for Health, Madoda Sambatha, during his 2019/20 financial budget vote speech in the Provincial Legislature in Mmabatho on Thursday 18 July 2019.

This after the Democratic Alliance (DA) raised questions about the safety of babies and newborns from the threat of extreme cold weather conditions due to the heating system not properly functioning in the Klerksdorp Hospital. Sambatha says he has welcomed 13 new specialists across disciplines of neurosurgery, maxillofacial surgery, internal medicine, general surgery, paediatrics and obstetrics. He further says the hospital expanded tertiary services, leading to an over 20% reduction of patients being referred to Gauteng hospitals.

Sambatha says through the partnership with Netcare Ferncrest, 22 cardiac operations were successfully conducted. “I launched a similar partnership between KT Hospital and Life Ancron Private Hospital. This project signifies not only commitment but action towards the implementation of the NHI, where our patients are operated on in private hospitals by our specialist doctors and nurses, using our consumables and only paying a facility fee,” he says.

OFM News previously reported that the DA provincial spokesperson on Health and Social Development, Gavin Edwards, said following an oversight visit at the Klerksdorp Hospital, it was discovered that the heat generated by the current system is not conducive to regulating the body temperatures of vulnerable patients.

He said a fully functioning heating system is crucial to especially safeguard premature babies and newborns from extreme cold weather conditions. Edwards said it is unacceptable that these babies are left at the mercy of a failing heating system to the extent that staff members are taking it upon themselves to bring extra blankets to ensure that the babies stay warm.

OFM News